Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had expressed his concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions in talks on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Olmert said he also talked with Putin about the need for an embargo on weapons sales to Iran and Syria. Israeli security officials say Russian-made arms supplied to Syria were used by the Hezbollah militia in this summer's Lebanon war.
"We are at an historical crossroads and we do not have the privilege of ignoring the real intention of Iran, whose leadership has called publicly and declaratively for Israel's destruction," he told reporters after a meeting with Putin.
"I come out of this meeting with a feeling that Putin understands the upcoming danger from Iran, if it indeed succeeds in fulfilling its purpose of arming itself with a nuclear weapon."
Tehran denies it is seeking an atomic bomb and says its nuclear programme is for power generation. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear bombs but has never confirmed this.
Russia is building for Iran a nuclear power plant in Bushehr. It has vowed to conclude the project despite US and Israeli pressure to halt it.
When asked later whether the Russians could share with Israel information about Bushehr, Olmert said: "I think the Russians know many things, but this would not be likely."
He added, however, that there was "a lot of cooperation and coordination" with Russia on the Iran issue.
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council, says it does not want Iran to have nuclear arms but it has so far resisted US efforts to adopt sanctions, saying it is not proven Iran has military intentions.
Lavrov sees no threat
Olmert told reporters he believed Russia shared his concerns. "I understood that nuclear issue scares them," he told reporters. "They understand its meaning and the severity of this issue."
Putin did not mention Iran in his remarks after talks with Olmert.
Just hours before his meeting with the Israeli leader, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Moscow did not see an immediate threat coming from Iran.
"It is necessary to act on Iran but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening," RIA news agency quoted him as saying.
"And what is really happening is what the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security," Lavrov added.
On Lebanon, Olmert said he had emphasised to Putin "the importance of implementing a weapons embargo on countries that pass weapons to Hizbollah and on the Syrian and Iranian involvement in Lebanon".
Russian officials have rejected Israeli calls for a halt to arms exports to Tehran and Damascus, including a contract to supply the Iranian military with Tor-1M anti-aircraft missile systems. Moscow says the weapons are purely defensive.
But Olmert appeared pleased with the outcome of his talks with Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.
"I was assured that the Russians understand why we are worried and it is my impression that ... they would do everything to prevent us from such concerns in future," he told reporters.
